Jonathan Grimwood
The
Last Banquet is an intriguing novel. Its canvas is
both broad and singularly personal. Jonathan Grimwood's take
on pre-revolutionary France is a fascinating, ambitious and altogether
brilliant exploration of a unique period in France's history, viewed through
the eyes and told from the perspective of a minor noble who starts life in a
dung heap and finishes it as master of a sweeping estate and castle in the
south of France, one that also doubles as the retirement home of a range of
exotic animals no longer fit for life at the Palace of Versailles. The book
tells the story of all that comes to pass in between.
Grimwood has written a historical novel
that does an exceptional job at not actually reading like a historical novel. A
deft illustration, caricature and—at times—skewering of the norms and social
customs of France during a period of perverse inequity, brutal injustice and
ridiculous class distinctions, it neither lectures or passes judgement. Above
all, however, The Last Banquet is a story of life, love, friendship and,
particularly, food. Taste is a sensory sub-narrative that weaves through the
book, tangential and yet essential to the overall structure. From the sweetness
of dung beetles to the richness of roquefort to the fresh sweat at the edge of
his first love's neckline, there is no taste left unexplored and unsavoured.
Without question, The Last Banquet is my favourite book so far this year. It is a
richly drawn tale of what it means to be human, and to make choices, and to
succeed and fail—to live and die—by those choices. But it is a singularly human
tale, one that draws you in and doesn't let you go until the absolute and
inexorable conclusion. Grimwood's characters are deftly drawn, his dialogue is
exceptional and his story telling is superlative. It is Timothy Findley's Famous Last Words, as written by Joanne
Harris. And worth the read because of it.
Mark Mullaly is an avid reader, sometimes writer, enthusiastic motorcyclist and lover of wine (and endeavours to engage in only one of these pursuits at any given time).
Mark Mullaly is an avid reader, sometimes writer, enthusiastic motorcyclist and lover of wine (and endeavours to engage in only one of these pursuits at any given time).
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